30.07.12
Three Legionnaires’ patients discharged in Stoke-on-Trent
Three patients being treated as part of the Legionnaires’ outbreak in Stoke-on-Trent have been discharged.
A total of 16 cases have been reported in Stoke-on-Trent; eight patients remain in the University Hospital of North Staffordshire and are reported to be in “stable or improving” condition.
One patient in a “critical but stable condition” has been transferred to Glenfield hospital in Leicestershire.
The outbreak was first announced last Tuesday and since then one patient has died. All the reported cases are aged between their late-40s and mid-70s.
The source of the outbreak has not yet been traced, but the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has confirmed that the disease was not contracted in a hospital environment.
Local MPs are calling for the original source of the outbreak to be identified as soon as possible. Joan Walley, MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, said: “I am calling for the HPA, Health and Safety Executive, the NHS, and enforcement officers to redouble their efforts to find the source of the contamination in Stoke-on-Trent. We need full transparency.
“We also need assurances that the agencies with joint responsibility have the resources to carry out their public health responsibilities.”
Because the infection is spread through inhaling infected water, all seven of Stoke-on-Trent’s water condensers have been disinfected with chlorine. Investigators have been deployed to source the infection but experts say that the source may now have been destroyed before it could be traced.
Tell us what you think – have your say below, or email us directly at [email protected]